Bank becomes doctors' office

Vault, teller windows, drive-through will stay.

Vault, teller windows, drive-through will stay.

July 28, 2006|CHRISTINA HILDRETH Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- This weekend is going to be extremely busy for employees at Northwest Family Medicine. But not because of a large influx of sick people. Instead of checking the blood pressure and temperature of patients, the practice's staff will be packing. And moving. And unpacking. After 14 years of leasing their present office, the four doctors and 15 other staff members have outgrown the winding hallways of the building at 3575 Portage Ave. They will move to the MFB bank building at 2930 West Cleveland Road. Where tellers took deposits and cashed checks on Friday, nurses will check patients in and file insurance forms on Monday. Where an old vault held mortgage documents, nurses will record patients' vital signs. The 10,000-square-foot building was once headquarters for Sobieski Bancorp, which capsized after a loan scandal in 2002. After the Mishawaka-based MFB bought out many of Sobieski's assets in 2004, the building was used as an MFB branch. But executives always knew it was much more space than they needed. "Our intention was to occupy the building and lease the extra space," said Chuck Viater, president of MFB Financial Corp. That idea changed last fall when Viater, who recently took a position on the board for Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center (the group that owns Northwest Family Medicine), was at a University of Notre Dame football game. There, someone who worked at the hospital mentioned that the bank building would be the perfect size for Northwest Family Medicine's practice. That got the wheels turning in Viater's mind. "We realized that we could sell the building and build a prototype building next door," said Viater. MFB acquired a vacant parcel of land adjacent to the building at 2850 West Cleveland Road when it bought out Sobieski. There, it just completed construction on a 3,300-square-foot prototype branch. So, while nurses and doctors carry boxes of stethoscopes and medicine in, tellers and loan officers will carry boxes of bond certificates and deposit slips out in a hectic bustle to set up for the Monday opening of both businesses. Doctors and nurses at the office say the new building, which has $225,000 worth of renovations, will work out perfectly, giving them about 3,000 more square feet to work in. But the family health care practice had to make one major concession: They found it impossible to remove the bank's vault. "We can't find anyone to take off the door," said office manager Jennifer Stone. She explained that removing the 3,000-pound door would destroy the surrounding floor, ceiling and walls. Still, doctors can't wait to get into the new building. "We'll have covered entrance ways, a handicap door, wider hallways, larger exam rooms and a drive-through for refills," said Dr. Michael Helms, who has been with the practice for 14 years. "If we intend to grow we need more space." Staff writer Christina Hildreth: childreth@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6271